1. International Day of Rural women observed on 15
October
i. International Day of
Rural women was observed on 15 October 2013 across the world to recognize the
critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women,
ii. in enhancing
agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating
rural poverty.
iii. The Day recognizes
rural women’s importance in enhancing agricultural and rural development
worldwide.
iv. This International
Day of Rural women, established by the General Assembly in its resolution
62/136 of 18 December 2007. The first International Day of Rural Women was
observed on 15 October 2008 by the United Nations.
2.
Coal scam: FIR against industrialist KM Birla
i. In a fresh FIR against former coal secretary PC Parekh and industrialist
Kumar Mangalam Birla, the CBI registered on Tuesday, the 14th FIR in its
ongoing coal scam, along with raids at several places.
ii. The case is being
directly monitored by the Supreme Court.
iii. The two have been
accused of criminal conspiracy and corruption in connection with alleged
irregularities in allocation of coal blocks eight years back.
iv. The 46-year-old
head of the Aditya Birla group will be called in for questioning, CBI sources
said.
v. In connection with the case, CBI teams are also raiding
various places including Delhi, Mumbai,Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar and Hyderabad.
vi. The agency has booked
Birla as a representative of Aditya Birla Group and his group company,
aluminium maker Hindalco, for alleged corruption in the allocation of Talabira
two coal blocks in Odisha which was allotted to it on November 10, 2005, the
sources said.
vii. The $40 billion (about Rs. 2.45 lakh crore) conglomerate
has denied receiving any FIR and refuted allegations of any wrongdoing.
viii. Parekh, who was Coal Secretary at the time of this
allocation, faces charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act as also
criminal conspiracy and other offences.
ix. CBI has been at the receiving end in the Supreme Court
which has pased tough questions on why coal fields were allocated to private
players without a transparent bidding process, the slow pace of probe as also
on missing files.
3. India, Finland ink clean technology pact to produce
ethanol
i. In a
first-of-its-kind initiative to promote use of clean technology, India on
Tuesday signed an agreement with Finland to produce indigenous ethanol and
reduce country’s dependence on its import.
ii. As per the deal,
State-run explorer ONGC and Finnish clean technology firm Chempolis will set up
a pilot project to produce ethanol, bio-chemicals and bio-coal from biomass
residual matters.
iii. The agreement was
inked between Finnish Minister for European Affairs Alexander Stubb and India’s
Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Panabaka Lakshmi in New Delhi.
iv. The ONGC chairman
further added that since 75 per cent of India’s ethanol requirements are met
through imports, there is a large requirement which is not being met by
indigenous production.
v. Besides, India is
also looking at collaboration with clean technology firm Ripasso to convert
solar energy into thermal energy.
4.
President confers Presidential Award for Classical Tamil
i. President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday conferred
the Presidential Award for Classical Tamil 2009-10 and 2010-11 at a function in
Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.
ii. Dr. Iravathram
Mahadevan received prestigious Tolkappiyar award for his immense contribution in the area
of Epigraphy.
iii. President also conferred Young Scholar Awards to Dr. T.
Suresh, Dr. S. Kalpana, Dr. R. Chandrasekhar , Dr. Vaani Arivaalan and Dr. C. Muthamizhselvan
for showing excellence in Tamil studies.
iv. The President awards for Classical Tamil have been
instituted by the Ministry of Human Resources Development to give recognition
to distinguished scholars who have made outstanding contribution to the
development of Classical Tamil language and literature.
5. INS Sunayna commissioned into Indian Navy
i. The
Indian Navy on 15 October 2013 inducted into service its largest offshore
patrol vessel (OPV), INS Sunayna, at the Southern Naval Command.
ii. The ship was
designed and built by the public sector Goa Shipyard. The ship is
equipped with the most advanced communication, navigation and electronic
warfare equipment besides a 76-mm SRGM (Super Rapid Gun Mount), and close-in
weapon system (CIWS). INS Sunayna will strengthen the Indian Navy capability to
safeguard the maritime interests.
iii. The vessel is
expected to fill the vital gap in the Southern Naval Command’s patrol
capability.
iv. The vessel also has
the ability to embark an advanced light helicopter (ALH) or a Chetak search and
rescue helicopter. Two more vessels of this class will be delivered to the Navy
between this year-end and mid-2014.
6. EC of India Approved None of the Above Option in EVMs
and Ballot Papers
i. The
Election Commission of India ordered on 13 October 2013 the Chief Electoral
Officers of all States and Union territories to provide for None of the Above
(NOTA) option in electronic voting machines (EVMs) and ballot papers.
ii. The None of the
Above option will be provided at the bottom of the panel on the EVMs or as the
last row in the ballot paper after all the candidates have been listed with
their respective symbols in the same language used to list the candidates.
iii. Likewise, the
contours of the NOTA panel will be identical to that given to each candidate.
iv. In constituencies
contesting more than 16 candidates in the fray, an extra EVM will be attached
to the first balloting unit for the NOTA option as the EVMs currently in use
can accommodate only 16 rows.
7. Walsh to be named India's hockey coach
i. Australian Terry Walsh is set to be
appointed as head coach of the Indian men’s hockey team after the Sports
Authority of India recommended his name to the Sports Ministry.
ii. Walsh’s name has
been forwarded to the Sports Ministry and his appointment will be cleared in a
week’s time.
iii. Thomson
said the SAI has recommended a monthly salary of Australian dollar 12,000 for
Walsh, who was part of Australia’s silver-winning team in 1976 Montreal
Olympics.
iv. “Nobbs was getting
Australian Dollar 11,000 and Walsh has been offered a thousand more than him,”
he added.
v. Former Australia and
Holland coach Walsh was the front-runner for the top job but there were
indications earlier that Oltmans, who was the interim coach after Australian
Nobbs resigned in July, would be made the permanent coach.
vi. Walsh was last seen
in the role of Technical Director of USA Hockey. He left the position at the
end of last year.
8.
Indian-American actor Kumar Pallana dies
i. Indian actor Kumar Pallana, who played the memorable
role of a janitor in Tom Hanks starrer 'The Terminal' and worked in many Wes
Anderson movies, has died. He was 94.
ii. Pallana was a scene stealer as an Indian janitor who
enjoyed watching people slip on his freshly cleaned floors in the Steven
Spielberg directed movie.
iii. Anderson met Pallana as a customer at a coffee shop owned
by his son and first cast him in 1996's 'Bottle Rocket'.
iv. The actor then went on to do supporting role in the
director's 'Roshmore', 'The Royal Tenenbaums and 'The Darjeeling Limited', the
Entertainment Weekly reported. Pallana also worked as a juggler, a singer and a
yoga instructor among other trades.
9. Novak Djokovic defeated Juan Del Potro to win Shanghai
Masters 2013
i. Novak
Djokovic on 15 October 2013 defeated Juan Del Potro 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) to win
a second straight trophy at the Shanghai Masters in China.
ii. Djokovic earned
victory on the first of three match points in the third-set tiebreaker after
Del Potro saved two Djokovic match-winners in the tenth game of the set. Novak
Djokovic won a fourth Beijing trophy over the past five years when he beat
Nadal last week. Djokovic is from Serbia.
iii. Djokovic, at present
owns five titles this season and 39 in his career.
iv. Djokovic finished
with 47 winners but converted on only two of his dozen opportunities. Djokovic
has defeated Del Potro 10 times while has lost to him three times. Del Potro
had defeated Nadal in the semi-finals of Shanghai Masters.
10. Oscar Hijuelos, the Cuban-American Writer, Died at 62
i. Oscar
Hijuelos, the Cuban-American writer died on 13 October 2013 in New York City.
He was 62 years old and died because of heart attack. He was the first Latino
to win the Pulitzer Prize. He is survived by his wife.
11.
Duleep
Trophy: N.Zone to meet S. Zone in final in Kochi on Thursday
i. North Zone will clash with South Zone in the Duleep
Trophy cricket final. The five-day match will be played in Kochi from Thursday.
ii. At Kochi today, a spin of coin sent
the Harbhajan Singh-led North Zone into the final. Earlier, their semifinal
match against East Zone ended in a draw due to bad weather and soggy field
conditions on the fifth and reserve day today.
